Does Your ISP Slow Down BitTorrent Traffic? [Test]
The guys from Torrentfreak.com release a test to verify if your ISP slows down BitTorrent traffic.
I’ve read that my ISP (Rogers) throttle BitTorrent traffic, but based on the results of the test and my latest checks of the upload/download speed of my torrents, Rogers has been a good boy : )
Here are the results of my test:
Results for your host (XXXXXXXXXX.XXX.net.cable.rogers.com – XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX):
Is BitTorrent traffic on a well-known BitTorrent port (6881) throttled?
The BitTorrent upload (seeding) worked. Our tool was successful in uploading data using the BitTorrent protocol.
There’s no indication that your ISP rate limits your BitTorrent uploads. In our tests a TCP upload achieved minimal 73 Kbps while a BitTorrent upload achieved maximal 80 Kbps. You can find details here.
The BitTorrent download worked. Our tool was successful in downloading data using the BitTorrent protocol.
There’s no indication that your ISP rate limits your BitTorrent downloads. In our tests a TCP download achieved minimal 2944 Kbps while a BitTorrent download achieved maximal 2980 Kbps. You can find details here.Is BitTorrent traffic on a non-standard BitTorrent port (4711) throttled?
The BitTorrent upload (seeding) worked. Our tool was successful in uploading data using the BitTorrent protocol.
There’s no indication that your ISP rate limits your BitTorrent uploads. In our tests a TCP download achieved minimal 71 Kbps while a BitTorrent download achieved maximal 79 Kbps. You can find details here.
The BitTorrent download worked. Our tool was successful in downloading data using the BitTorrent protocol.
There’s no indication that your ISP rate limits your BitTorrent downloads. In our tests a TCP download achieved minimal 2961 Kbps while a BitTorrent download achieved maximal 2972 Kbps. You can find details here.Is TCP traffic on a well-known BitTorrent port (6881) throttled?
There’s no indication that your ISP rate limits all downloads at port 6881. In our test, a TCP download on a BitTorrent port achieved at least 2944 Kbps while a TCP download on a non-BitTorrent port achieved at least 2961 Kbps. You can find details here.
There’s no indication that your ISP rate limits all uploads at port 6881. In our test, a TCP upload on a BitTorrent port achieved at least 73 Kbps while a TCP upload on a non-BitTorrent port achieved at least 71 Kbps. You can find details here.
Take the test yopur self and check your ISP
June 15th, 2008 at 11:03 am
[Please forgive my tone i'm normally pretty happy and well adjusted- i appreciate the things i have for all they're worth but the current motions of this ISP is just insane]
Rogers has not been a good boy.
Rogers has been very sneaky- and should very well be punished by the FCC, BBB or whatever powers that be.
I know for a fact my P2P connections are being tampered with and I passed the Glasnost test aswell- it took me about a week to figure out what was going on and by then i had lost a major project which required P2P distribution.
Rogers uses packet degradation on the upstream of connection with P2P like “signatures”, they call it “traffic shaping” but it is very different than the Sandvine technology that ISPs like Comcast are using and which Glasnost tests for.
Your actual upstream is probably around 150 kbps but since it’s dropping, losing, mutilating, and/or spindling half the packets Glasnost’s reporting back 77 kbps..
In other words they’re not throttling it by delaying the responses (or reseting your connection like sandvine), Rogers is outright trashing half the BitTorrent data while the networks TCP/IP protocols do their best to recreate a functional stream without Glasnost being any the wiser.
In practice this packet thrashing will cause most bittorrent peers to drop connection before any real data has transfered.
The worse part is this type of “filtering” also interupts unrelated applications causing various network problems, corrupted file transfers and even web browsing issues.
Actually seedings files (uploading new torrents) to peers outside of the rogers network is nearly impossible (~95% of the time)..
Give it a try.. you don’t even need to make a new torrent, just re-seed a recent download and you’ll see what i mean.
Some people were using VPN (Virtual Private Networks) to skirt around these limitations with totally encrypted data streams.. guess what Rogers did to resolve this? they throttled ALL encrypted data streams to ~5 kbps or less.
VPN’s are an essential business tool to maintain data security and client privacy, it’s ludicrous.
The real kicker is the whole “limited bandwidth to go around” issue is a farce.
The network backbone is entirely fiber optic right up to the termination nodes.. then they run a few feet of coax to each building and make everyone share the same “straw”.
The only reason they’re using the “P2P is for pirates, hogs, and nogooders” propaganda is to subvert a technology which provides direct competition to their pay per view movies, “premium” serialized TV content and jimmy rigged “phone” services.
Everything else is just red herrins and a way to make their customers believe it’s alright to pay out the nose for something with intrinsic value like bottled water (which you only get to drink the way they tell you mind you).
Personally I believe it’s monopolized price gouging and corporate bullying.. their customers actually think they’re being done a favor with protocol restrictions, censorship, bandwidth caps and additional per transfer charges because “it’s for the good of the many”.
My +$300 a month Rogers home services bill makes me feel gutted.. the ulcers are the bundled savings.
I’d switch if there was anywhere to go.. Bell’s sympatico P2P is monitored too from what i’ve read on DSL reports.
Not to mention that I’ve been calling Bell since last year and they have yet to send out a tech to replace the phone line that the Rogers guy ripped out the wall (while fervently confessing that the destructive mayhem was policy).
On the other hand I do have a Bell DSL modem sitting here on my desk as a paper weight, which only took 6 months to arrive.. just nothing to plug it into.
What is up with these two corporate giants and customers service?
Are there any real private networks left in Ontario or is it all just rebranded Rogers / Bell?
Is there any option at all? Heck, I’m use to paying out the nose for little to nothing so price hardly even matters..
I just want to be able to plant a proper seed.
Anyway, sorry to rant on and on, figured i’d let you know those test results aren’t as accurate as you’d think in regards to Rogers.
~MC